Shi No Tenshi
by The Distorted Shadow
Summary: Banished for failing a mission, Naruto thought his life was over. Through the help of new friends and a foul mouthed companion, he soon discovers that just because he isn't in Konoha, doesn't mean he can't make a name for himself. The world had better watch out as the Shi No Tenshi is born. (Rewrite Of Shi No Tenshi currently located under the FenrisRoots profile)
1. Chapter 1

Woohoo... it's finally here!

I have been trying to get this out for months already but I ended up suffering from writers block on it until recently.

Anyway, first things first:

1) I have a poll on my profile that I would like everyone to vote on.

2) I have recently started a forum where I will be posting things such as news ramblings etc... if you have any questions for me then feel free to ask them there... plus I have a thought for a new story that popped into my head that I would like everyone's opinion on.

P.S a link for it can be found on my profile.

And that is all for now so without further ado...

Welcome to the rewrite for Shi No Tenshi!

* * *

The main gates of Konoha were currently a rather negative place to be as the rain pattered against every available surface in a cacophony of noise that assisted in drowning out any low noise that normally pervaded the atmosphere. Despite the torrential downpour, a single girl with vibrant pink hair, a red dress with blue shorts was waiting with bated breath in the hopes that the rescue team sent to save one of her teammates would return.

Currently occupying her mind was a simple thought, _'why am I so weak? Why couldn't I stop Sasuke-kun from leaving?' _it was a question she had been asking herself for hours on end, ever since she woke up after being knocked out by her missing teammate.

She didn't want him to leave, she wanted her team to stay the same as it had always been, the friendly rivalry between Sasuke and Naruto had been something she had enjoyed watching, it was through seeing that relationship that she realised that Naruto wasn't the dead last idiot he appeared to be, though he was indeed still an idiot she had come to respect his strength and ability to overcome enemies that she couldn't even dream of defeating.

Suddenly her eyes caught note of movement from along the road, she didn't know what to think of the oncoming group, they were moving significantly slower than the others that had come before, so it was obvious that any injuries this group possessed weren't the life threatening disasters that had plagued the others.

As the figure got closer, she noted the gravity defying silver hair of her sensei and a dull orange bundle in his arms, obviously her other teammate, Uzumaki Naruto. However there was no sign of the teammate they had left to retrieve, there was no sign of Uchiha Sasuke.

Rushing out of the gate and towards the returning duo, Sakura charged towards the rest of her team with worry clear in her eyes as she pulled up in front of Kakashi.

"Kakashi-sensei! Where's Sasuke-kun?" she asked the tall man with a hitae-ate covering his left eye.

"He got away… and almost killed Naruto doing so," the experienced Jonin told her with obvious regret in his voice as he walked past his pink haired student in order to take his currently unconscious to the hospital for treatment.

'_Sasuke-kun…'_ was the only thought that appeared in the young girls mind as she dropped to her knees and let tear flow unabashed from her emerald eyes.

XXX XXX XXX

Those who knew Uzumaki Naruto knew that he was almost always either grinning like an idiot or shouting at people for underestimating him. However right now he was doing neither of those things, instead he was simply sitting on a hospital bed staring out of the window. That was all he had done for the past two hours and everyone that had entered the room had felt the sheer magnitude of his failure.

He had been placed on the Sasuke retrieval team consisting of himself, Nara Shikamaru, Akimichi Chōji, Inuzuka Kiba and Hyūga Neji, the team had been forced to break apart on several occasions in order to continue the mission, however he was the only one that had failed his part, he was the one person that had actually managed to fight Sasuke himself… and he had lost.

Sasuke had defeated him despite his best efforts, despite borrowing the power of the monster sealed within his gut, Sasuke had proven to be too skilled and powerful for him to defeat. At least that is what he told himself, Sasuke was always his marker, the person he wanted to surpass. The reality though made it even harder for him to accept, he had been a near perfect match for the raven haired avenger in all but one thing, intent.

He had fought Sasuke to defeat him and bring him back to Sakura, however Sasuke had fought him with the intent to kill him, the lightning encased hand through the chest was proof of that.

But to him, none of that mattered, all that mattered was that he had failed, Sasuke had defected to Orochimaru, where the disgusting man would transfer his soul into Sasuke's body and gain access to the legendary doujutsu, the sharingan.

However beyond that there was the fact that he had broken a promise, he had promised Sakura-chan that he would bring Sasuke back and he had failed, he had broken his promise and as far as he was concerned, he was worse than trash.

Time felt as if it was standing still as he continued to look out of the window, his mind constantly pushing one point into the front of his mind, that he was weak and that weakness had hurt Sakura.

Eventually he heard the door open and a series of slow, light footsteps make their way towards him, doing nothing to draw his attention, he had more important things to think about right now after all.

"N-Naruto? Are you alright?" he would recognise the voice anywhere, it was Sakura and he could immediately tell she was upset, her tone lay that fact bare.

He couldn't bring himself to say anything, that alone told her everything she needed to know, Naruto would never ignore her and the fact that he was doing just that right now proved just how hard his failure had hit him. However she misinterpreted his silence as having another meaning.

"I… I'm so, so sorry," her voice started breaking upon her apology, making the spiky haired youth face her with confusion written across his face, "i-if I'd been stronger I could've helped… if I hadn't made you promise to bring Sasuke-kun back you wouldn't be here like this… I'm sorry!"

Naruto could do nothing more than look at her in shock at her declaration, unable to comprehend the fact that she appeared to be blaming herself for Sasuke escaping and him being hospitalised despite the fact that he was the one that failed to stop the rogue Uchiha at the valley of the end.

"S-Sakura-chan," his mind stalled after saying her name, his brief pause giving him a chance to think over what he wanted to say, "w-why are you apologizing? I was the one that failed… I'm the one that broke my promise… I'm the one that's worse than trash."

"Stop that! You nearly died because of me!" upon hearing that the young jinchūriki cringed, here he was feeling sorry for failing her and all she was doing was throwing his apologies back in his face because she blamed herself as well.

And deep down, he understood why. Sakura had never been particularly enthusiastic about her training, instead she found the prospect of admiring Sasuke a far more appealing way to spend her time, meaning she was easily the weakest member of the team now… not that it would've made much difference had she put effort into her training, Sasuke was a genius after all and even with the Kyūbi's chakra aiding him, Naruto had still failed in retrieving the rogue Uchiha.

"Sakura-chan… it wouldn't have made any difference," the young Uzumaki stated blankly, earning a shocked look off the young piknette, "I would've fought him the same way whether you made me promise or not."

That statement made the young girl break down even further as tears fell freely from her clenched eyes, her breathing erratic as sobs broke her usual rhythm.

And despite it all, Naruto couldn't bring himself to say anymore. Sakura was breaking down over his condition while he found it impossible to look at her out of shame… Sasuke's defection had truly hit the both of them hard.

"I… I'm going to become Hokage-sama's apprentice," Sakura finally spoke after getting herself under control, "I'll get stronger and then… and then we can get Sasuke-kun back, together next time."

Her words shocked the whiskered blond. Just because he had failed this time didn't mean there wouldn't be a next and on top of that Sakura was going to train under Tsunade in order to get strong enough to help him retrieve the person he considered a brother.

"Yeah… we can get him back together," Naruto muttered, thinking not simply of retrieving him with Sakura but also of healing the damage done to his psyche by his brother.

He knew they could do it, one way or another.

XXX XXX XXX

The Daimyo's palace was a rather impressive building, its solid architecture possessing a certain flow that most other buildings lacked in the modern era. Beyond that there was the assortment of ludicrously expensive ornaments that decorated the public areas, flaunting the country's wealth to all that visited.

It gave a strong visage, after all, if he had the cash to waste on such trivial matters then that must mean the country's economic climate was strong… which it was despite having to invest a large sum in assisting Konoha rebuild after the failed invasion of Sunagakure and Otogakure.

However the important part was what was happening within the Daimyo's hearing room, namely that an old man with spiky dark hair, bandages wrapped around his right eye and his right arm in a sling, was talking to the feudal lord.

His name was Shimura Danzō, the rival of the Sandaime Hokage and one of the strongest ninja in Konohagakure no sato, and right now, he was explaining the situation concerning the Uchiha survivor to the younger man.

"So as you can see, the chances of Uchiha Sasuke succeeding in defeating Uzumaki Naruto in single combat are slim at best," the older of the two stated seriously as he gathered chakra into his bandaged eye, "with Uzumaki's accomplishment against the Ichibi during the Suna Oto invasion and Uchiha's own lack of ability against the same opponent, I believe it is likely that Uzumaki allowed his target to escape. The boys own lack of injuries further supports this theory."

"I see, I see… this is most disconcerting Shimura-san, if what you say is true then this Uzumaki boy could potentially be a traitor himself," the noble muttered without too much real concern in his tone, it was obvious that he considered the situation a Konoha problem and didn't care too much outside of knowing that another country could have one of the few remaining sharingan in its grasp.

"Indeed it is and I would like to offer a proposition for you Daimyo-dono," the older of the two men continued, earning a nod from the highest authority within Hi No Kuni to continue, "Tsunade possesses blind trust in the boy and keeping him within Konoha would be a dangerous move should he prove to be a spy, as such I would like to propose that the boy be banished from Hi No Kuni in its entirety."

Danzō kept his gaze devoid of any emotion as he watched the man he considered a pompous moron think over his proposition… not that he would ever choose against it, his right eye ensured that.

"I see, I see… very well then, I shall write up the banishment order and send it to Konoha immediately, I thank you for bringing this matter to my attention Danzō-san," the civilian lord said cheerfully while making it clear that the bandaged ninja was being dismissed.

Without another word he turned and left the Daimyo's presence, his mind going over one simple matter… soon the Kyūbi would be outside of Tsunades hands and within his grasp and then Konoha would be able to rise to the indomitable position it once held once again.

XXX XXX XXX

Naruto couldn't stop himself from letting out a sigh upon hearing the status report concerning his teammates from the retrieval mission, apparently both Chōji and Neji had been at deaths door when they had been brought back to Konoha, Lee's body had apparently been in poor condition through being pushed too far and Kiba was suffering from some deep wounds. The only member of the rescue team that hadn't required medical attention was Shikamaru and that was only because all he had was a broken finger that could easily be set back in place without much hassle.

The blond himself hadn't required much in the way of medical attention due to his own innate regenerative power already working hard to fix his more serious injuries by the time he had reached the village. In the end, all he needed was disinfectant for his injuries and some fresh bandages, though Tsunade had demanded that he stay put and rest in the room assigned to him.

"But everyone will be alright right?" he asked the busty blonde Hokage the main point that was on his mind as she finished letting him know of the near total disaster Sasuke's defection had been.

"Yes, everyone has had their injuries mended and now simply require rest like you," the woman that looked far younger than she actually was verified for him with a soft smile, earning a sigh of relief from the whiskered child.

"That's good to know," he admitted before looking out of the window and wondering about how to get strong enough to bring his rival back.

"Naruto," immediately he turned back to face the leader of the village with an eerily calm expression, "I've withheld the order to have Sasuke marked as a missing nin but if he ever does anything against any of the other villages… I won't be able to keep that order at bay without creating a major political incident."

Upon hearing that, the jinchūriki couldn't stop himself from breaking out into a smile, that had been one of his main worries concerning Sasuke's defection to Orochimaru, the idea that he would be marked as someone to hunt down and kill was not a pleasant one for the attention craving blond.

"Thanks Baa-chan," and with that he found the back of his head being hit by a rather irate blond hokage.

"Don't call me that ya damned brat," despite her obvious dislike for the nickname, she wasn't showing him any real animosity, probably because she had at least partially come to accept it as Naruto being Naruto… plus it wasn't as bad as his nickname for Jiraiya.

"Whatever Baa-chan," the spiky haired youth muttered, earning a twitch of irritation off the older woman.

"Well, since everything is done here, I have to get back to my office, there is more than enough paperwork to deal with… especially with all the damn backlog," she muttered the last part under her breath, after all, the backlog wouldn't have been quite as bad if she had simply accepted the position in the first place instead of taking a week and a battle with her old teammate to finally accept it.

"Yeah, see ya later Baa-chan," the blue eyed child said before resting his head against the pillow and starting to wonder how much longer he would be kept there when he was pretty much in top condition again.

It really was quite amazing, he had been at deaths door after his fight with Sasuke and now after a mere two days he was more than capable of doing his usual routine… well he would be if he was allowed out of the hospital anyway.

"Uzumaki Naruto," instantly Naruto's mind froze in panic upon hearing the ridiculously calm voice say his name… after all, the last time he heard it had been when the owner was losing his mind and trying to kill him in as bloody a manner as possible.

"G-Gaara!" it was obvious that the blond was scared of the other jinchūriki, then again the last time they had met they were on opposite sides of the battlefield and the unstable Jinchūriki had wanted nothing more than to spill as much blood as possible.

Gaara was a young boy with vibrant red hair, large shadows surrounding his eyes and the Kanji for love tattooed upon the top left of his forehead. He was wearing a dark red overall with a white sash hanging from his right shoulder while a large gourd was strapped over his left.

"Whoa, calm down there runt, we're not here for a fight okay?" another voice said from behind the young redhead. The other person was a slightly older boy with a black full body suit and purple face paint, with a large bundle wrapped in cloth on his back.

Standing beside the taller boy was an even taller girl with sandy blonde hair tied into a quartet of ponytails. She was wearing a long sleeved purple blouse with a small tank top over it, a short, dark blue skirt and a red sash wrapped around her waist. Like the other two she had an object strapped to her back, a massive folded metal fan.

"Then what are you here for?" the whiskered genin asked suspiciously, sure he knew that if Gaara attempted to kill him it could completely destroy the Suna and Konoha alliance and start a new war… but he knew that Gaara wasn't the sort to care about that having seen him attempt to do the exact same thing before.

"To thank you, Uzumaki Naruto," once again Naruto froze, Gaara of all people was thanking him? For what? Seeing his fellow Jinchūriki's confusion, Gaara decided to elaborate, "because of you, I have finally tried to find… precious people," it was clear to both of the other two that the young redhead was not used to the concept of having anyone precious to him, "I have finally started making amends with my siblings and for that, I thank you."

And once again Naruto found himself speechless. Gaara was here, saying that he had decided to try his hand at a different way of life because of losing to him. That was definitely not something he was ever expecting to happen.

"Uh..." was all that managed to leave his mouth as he stared at the redhead as if he had grown another head, "thanks, I guess?"

"What's the matter, not used to being thanked?" the blonde girl asked with a grin, earning another blink from Naruto as he registered her words.

"Not from people that tried to kill me less than two months ago," he admitted, preferring not to admit that he wasn't thanked a lot at all, with the only real time he had ever been thanked being when he had helped save Nami from Gato.

"You've got a good point there," the older of the two visiting boys said lightly, earning a shrug from the girl as she decided to simply drop the point instead of trying to press it.

"For what it is worth, I would like to apologize for my previous actions towards you and your village, Uzumaki Naruto," Gaara said once his elder siblings had finished their little exchange.

"Uh… well I guess it's alright if you aren't going to try again," the spiky haired blond said while scratching the back of his head and wondering exactly how he had managed to get into this situation, honestly, he had not expected to be talking to a guy he beat the crap out of not that long ago in this sort of manner.

"Well, if that's the case, is it alright if we take a seat, I know I'd like to spend more time with my little brothers saviour," the blonde suna nin asked earning a nod off the whiskered jinchūriki, prompting the group of visitors to take seats as they started to chat with the bedridden genin.

XXX XXX XXX

Tsunade couldn't stop herself from staring in shock at the letter that had just been handed to her by the Chūnin in charge of the messenger birds.

To think that the Daimyo himself would banish Naruto from all of Hi No Kuni for a failed mission that he shouldn't have even been aware of.

The worst part was that she couldn't deny the man his demands. Sure Konoha may be powerful enough to fend off the Daimyo's army of Samurai but that didn't change one simple fact… Konoha was supported by the Daimyo and the missions he sent their way.

If she denied him then Konoha would be slowly suffocated of its finances before it collapsed due to lack of funding and the possibility it would never reach a profitable state again.

And that wasn't even taking into account how badly it needed funding supplied from the man now that it was recovering from the damage Suna and Oto inflicted on it less than two months ago.

Sure she could deny the man, however given the circumstances and the possible fallout, she had no doubt that the ninja forces would eventually revolt against what would be a destructive rule, that is unless they chose to kill Naruto himself in order to try and appease the Daimyo.

It was just such a horrible situation for her that she could do nothing more than sit behind her desk, staring blankly at the order, the only question going through her mind being 'why?'.

Why was the Daimyo banishing Naruto like this? What was it that led him to the decision that doing something like this was a good idea? No, not what… who. Thinking along that train of thought the blonde Hokage started to think of anyone that would want Naruto out of the village while having enough sway to make the feudal lord agree.

The answer came to her in less than a tenth of a second.

"Danzō…" she growled out, already understanding what the man's plan would be, get Naruto out of her protection, capture him and then extract the Kyūbi before sealing it in another more… convenient container.

"Tsunade-sama? Are you alright?" a young woman with dark hair wearing a black kimono asked as she entered and saw the enraged expression on her seniors face.

"No, I'm not Shizune, I swear I'm going to murder that bastard, slowly and painfully," the legendary Sannin stated through gritted teeth, making her student shiver in fear at the killing intent the woman was leaking.

"W-who are you talking about Tsunade-sama?" Shizune asked nervously, wondering who it was that had managed to gain her ire.

"Danzō," once again the blond woman growled out the name through gritted teeth, her vehemence towards the man was palpable in the air as the younger woman tried to figure out exactly what the man had done to gain such hatred from the alcoholic Hokage.

"W-what did he do Tsunade-sama?" the darkly dressed woman asked, hoping that her sensei's anger would die down soon.

"Convinced the Daimyo to banish Naruto!" all of a sudden Tsunade's anger didn't seem important anymore, if anything Shizune felt it wasn't simply justified but completely expected… after all, she now felt the same way.

"Tsunade-sama… how long does he have?" the younger of the two decided to try and keep as level a head as possible, hopefully the blond wouldn't be thrown out of the village straight away.

"He has three days to leave the country's borders before he will be treated as a criminal," the last Senju stated seriously, earning a nod off the dark haired woman.

"Then you need to hurry and speak with the Daimyo as soon as possible," the dark haired girl stated seriously, earning a nod of acceptance from the Hokage, "should I tell Naruto-kun about this?"

"No, not yet, I don't want to worry him and if I can convince the Daimyo to retract the order then that'll just put unnecessary stress on him," the legendary medic stated with closed eyes, "Shizune, look after my paperwork, I'll be back in a few hours."

Giving a stern nod, the younger of the duo watched as her teacher left the office via her window, taking the banishment order with her as she prepared herself to fight for the boy that reminded her of her little brother.

XXX XXX XXX

Naruto had to admit, the Suna trio were a lot nicer to talk to now that they weren't enemies, well, except for Gaara but that was more to do with how little the quiet redhead spoke full stop as opposed to what he said.

Though the soft smile on his face was much more pleasant than the vacant frown and malicious smirk he had worn during the Chūnin exams.

Honestly most of the conversation was spent talking to Kankurō and Temari, both of who seemed far less hostile than the last time they met and they even seemed to hold him with a certain level of regard on top of that, probably because he managed to stand up to Gaara in full bijū form.

However the rather amiable atmosphere was interrupted by the door to the hospital room opening again, this time revealing a certain pair of silver haired legends, Hatake Kakashi and Jiraiya of the Sannin.

"Yo, hope we're not interrupting anything important," the masked ninja stated lazily as he looked at the occupants of the room before dismissing them as not being a threat.

"Not really, we were just having a friendly chat with Naruto here," the blonde Suna nin stated with a shrug earning a nod of agreement from the older of her brothers.

"I see, so it looks like you've managed to make some new friends huh Naruto?" the spiky haired Jōnin said with an eye smile, earning a grin off the whiskered blond.

"Yeah, I guess I did," the Kyūbi Jinchūriki admitted with a vibrant smile adorning his face.

"Friends?" was all Gaara said from his corner, attracting everyones attention towards the sand user.

"Yeah, I guess we are aren't we?" and for the first time since he had seen the redhead, Naruto saw him take on an expression of surprise, not shock at seeing something break through his automatic defence but pleasant surprise at the fact that someone he had tried to kill not that long ago was prepared to call him a friend.

"Yeah… Friends," it was clear that the boy really was having a hard time acknowledging the fact that there was someone that wanted to be his friend… it didn't hurt that the other boy was the same as him and housed a demon within him.

"Okay, now let's get down to business," Jiraiya finally spoke up, making everyone turn their attention towards the long haired pervert.

"What do you mean Ero-sennin?" the now obviously confused blond asked with a tilt of his head, causing the two more animate Suna siblings to splutter in shock at the completely disrespectful manner in which he addressed one of the legendary sannin.

"Dammit brat, how many times do I have to tell you to stop calling me that?" the gama sennin asked him in exasperation.

"I'll stop calling you that when you stop wasting your time peeking on the women's hot springs," and with that statement, the room was filled with the killing intent of the three Suna ninja.

"Jiraiya-sama… did you peek on me in the hot springs?" Temari asked with righteous fury lacing her voice.

"Please… why would I bother peeking on a little girl like you?" the incredulous manner that the oldest in the room made everyone blink out of their anger fuelled states, "come back in half a decade and I might consider you worth it."

And once again the room was filled with the killing intent of Suna nin, though this time it was only the two brothers that emitted it as Temari seemed more focused on covering her fully clothed body in embarrassment at the man's statement.

"That isn't helping Ero-sennin," Naruto deadpanned despite the suffocating urge to kill that permeated the room courtesy of the teenage girls brothers.

"Well that doesn't really matter anyway, after all, as Jiraiya said, we're here on business," Kakashi decided to interrupt the situation before it devolved any further, honestly a legendary ninja like Jiraiya should've been able to push aside anything the blond said and get straight down to business.

"Ah yes, I'm going to ask you this right now, do you want to go on a training trip with me?" the gama sennin asked seriously, earning shocked looks from the four youngest people in the group.

"S-seriously?" the whiskered blond asked in astonishment, sure he knew that the man had trained him for a little while over the past three months but to actually go on a full length training trip with the man would be completely different.

"Yes, there is a condition though," and with that everyone stared at him with a serious expression, even Kakashi expressed a certain level of surprise at that titbit of information, "you have to give up on Sasuke."

Upon hearing the oldest in the room make that statement, Naruto found his heart missing a beat, the mere thought of giving up on Sasuke was practically anathema for him, especially now that he had already promised Sakura that he would do everything he could to bring the rogue back.

And apparently Kakashi didn't exactly agree with the requirement either, if the way he glared at the man was anything to go by.

"Look, I understand you might disagree with what I'm asking but the fact of the matter is this, Sasuke left of his own free will, he has already chosen his path and trying to force him back here won't do anything except put you in danger," the toad summoner stated seriously, "and even if you did manage to bring him back then what? Do you think he'll just stay when he's already left once before? The reality is that if you did bring him back then all that would happen is that he would be either imprisoned or executed for his defection."

Upon hearing the legendary ninja's explanation Naruto found himself looking down in sadness because he understood exactly what the sannin was saying… even if he did bring Sasuke back, things wouldn't be the same as they were before he left.

"So will you give up on Sasuke?" the old pervert asked once again.

XXX XXX XXX

"Daimyo-dono," Tsunade stated as calmly as she could manage given the current situation and her anger that was currently directed towards Danzō.

"Ah, Tsunade-chan, what business do you have here?" the rather frail looking feudal lord asked with an infuriating smile on his face, sure she could break every bone in his body with a single finger but that didn't change the fact that doing so would create a lot of political issues and quite possibly lead to the destruction of Konoha in the process.

"This," the infuriated Hokage stated as she pulled out the banishment order, earning a soft smile from the country's leader.

"Ah yes, the banishment order for Uzumaki Naruto correct?" the physically powerless man stated with an amused tone, "Danzō-san did mention that you were unusually attached to the boy."

And with that statement her main hope for protecting Naruto had been crushed. If the lord hadn't just told her who had spoken to him then she could've used the fact that she knew that it would be Danzō and more importantly, why she knew it was him as leverage to discredit the man, however now that the civilian had already mentioned his name, she could do nothing more than attempt a character assassination of the oldest ninja in Konoha... something that would be easier said than done.

"I hope you know that Danzō can't be trusted Daimyo-sama," seeing that she had attracted the man's attention, she decided to press further on the subject, "he is a warmonger, he will do anything to try and make Konoha stronger, even if he has to experiment on Konoha shinobi to do it," seeing that the man was simply raising an eyebrow at her declaration she decided to try and press forward, "I take it that he never bothered to tell you that Naruto is a Jinchūriki did he?"

"On the contrary, he did explain that detail to me, it is part of the reason I decided to banish the child instead of execute him, after all, we don't want the Kyūbi to be released in the middle of the village again now do we?" the older man said with an almost uncaring manner, then again from what she knew of the man, he tended to consider most matters concerning shinobi as beneath him.

That was one of the reasons he didn't care about taking twelve of Konoha's Jōnin as bodyguards.

But that very same point could be led to indicate that Danzō had done something to the man to make him agree with him, however such a ploy would've already been discovered by one of the Shugonin Jūnishi and any genjutsu would've already been cancelled, even one cast by someone as powerful as Danzō couldn't be maintained under the elite bodyguards the man had under his employ.

So it was with gritted teeth that the blonde sannin made her next attempt against the banishment order.

"And did you ever consider that Danzō is using you to try and capture Naruto for his own goals? That without the protection of a shinobi village Danzō could easily capture him and extract the Kyūbi for his own purposes?" she asked, hoping that the man would see her side of the argument for a change.

"And what good would such an action do? Without a host the Kyūbi is just a mindless beast and without another Uzumaki in Konoha, there is no other vessel suitable to contain its power," the still smiling feudal lord asked her rhetorically, earning a shocked look off the slightly younger woman.

Despite what she had originally concluded, the daimyo was right, the Kyūbi was well known for being hard for anyone that wasn't an Uzumaki to contain, not quite impossible but difficult none the less. And despite his impressive level in the art of Fūinjutsu, Danzō was no Uzumaki and didn't have access to the types of seal that would be required to keep the beast at bay.

So then what was his real plan?

"Now if you don't have any other business with me, I would appreciate if you left Tsunade-chan," the daimyo stated with his infuriating smile, "after all, I will not retract my order and you are just wasting both of our time with this incessant nonsense."

Tsunade wanted to argue more, she wanted to make the man drop his superior attitude and listen to her but despite what she wanted, she knew that denying his 'request' could potentially create trouble for Konoha as a whole.

So it was with a heavy heart that she did what she had to do as Hokage.

She left.

XXX XXX XXX

Naruto couldn't stop his heart from beating frantically, to think that he would be getting one on one, personalized training with one of the sannin for three years! And he had even managed to convince the man to drop his condition as well.

And it turned out that the Suna siblings believed he could do it, stating that 'if he can save Gaara, he can save his friend'. Still that just meant he would be able to get much stronger and work towards bringing his friend back to Konoha.

And as Kakashi had pointed out to the older man, the presence of the Juinjutsu could be used to indicate that Sasuke wasn't in his right mind when he made his decision and shouldn't be held as fully responsible of the decision.

So he now had a ray of hope. He had something that meant things could return to the way they had been, it just hinged on the removal of Orochimaru's seal and the hope that Sasuke's actions were entirely the fault of the seal and not his own decision.

Of course the problem was that the seal gave him a major power boost, one that allowed him to match one tail of the Kyūbi's chakra, which was no small feat, especially when combined with the Uchiha's natural skill and talent in the art of combat.

And the next time they fight, the raven haired Uchiha would possess the training of one of the sannin on top of that power. Sure Naruto would be gaining the same thing, however the problem lay in the fact that Sasuke had more talent and would probably learn more than him in the time they spent apart.

Which of course meant he would have to train even harder, train longer and hope that Sasuke wouldn't get too far ahead before the next time they met.

The whiskered blond jerked his head to the side upon hearing the door to his room open, he knew it would be a doctor since visiting hours were over, hence why he was currently alone.

"Hey Baa-chan, am I free to go now?" he asked happily upon seeing the woman he had managed to convince to return to act as the next Hokage, however his cheerful demeanour changed upon seeing the look on her face.

"Not exactly…" she stated before handing him the Daimyo's letter and letting him read it himself, watching as his face went from apprehensive to distraught at the order that had been received, "I'm sorry, I tried to reason with the bastard but he wouldn't listen."

Naruto couldn't believe his eyes or his ears. Why? Why was he being banished from Hi No Kuni? What had he done to deserve such a punishment, especially the last part of the order… 'all relations with Konoha are to be severed'.

Did that mean he wouldn't be able to go on the training trip with Ero-sennin? Did that mean he wouldn't be able to speak with his friends anymore? Was he being cast away like a piece of trash the Daimyo didn't want?

"W-why?" was all he managed to stutter out as he tried to process exactly what the order meant for him, at the very least he wanted to know why the Daimyo had decided to banish him.

"Because some old bastard somehow manipulated him," the busty Hokage stated with venom in her tone, "the bastard obviously wants to remove you from my protection so he can capture you for your prisoner but the daimyo refuses to accept it."

That made his blood run cold, he was being banished because someone wanted him because he was a jinchūriki? It was no surprise that he immediately thought back to Uchiha Itachi and Hoshigaki Kisame and the organisation they were members of, Akatsuki.

"Is this guy in league with those Akatsuki guys that are after me?" the whiskered child asked, completely unaware of the bombshell he set off in his elders head.

She had never considered if Danzō had ties to Akatsuki, it certainly was possible given his attitude towards the shinobi world and while she doubted the man had persuaded the daimyo to banish Naruto for Akatsuki to get their hands on him, that didn't change the fact that the group probably would attempt to take advantage of his unprotected status anyway.

"I don't know… unfortunately we don't really have time, you have less than three days to collect your possessions and flee the country… I wish I could do more for you but… the only people that would be of any use protecting you are needed in Konoha and we can't really spare the man power to let any ninja leave right now," she admitted grudgingly, obviously unhappy with her decision as Hokage to put the village above the boy.

"I… I understand Baa-chan… I… I'll go and get my stuff," he admitted before proceeding to leave the bed, his hospital gown still covering him, "d-do you think you could leave now?"

It was obvious that he was embarrassed by the thought of the old woman watching him change and if the situation was any less serious, she would've probably teased him over it as a form of revenge for whatever headache he would cause her later… but right now, she simply accepted his request and left to boy to change.

XXX XXX XXX

It had only taken half an hour for the boy to get changed and packed, putting on his trademark orange tracksuit and bluish grey backpack while leaving his Hitai-ate back in the hospital. In the back pack there wasn't a lot, just a couple of changes of clothes, some food for the road and possibly the most important photo he had ever had taken of him, the team seven formation photo.

That photo was a bitter reminder of what he had lost, first Sasuke and then his very place in Konoha. It would also be what he would use as motivation, he would get stronger regardless of whether or not anyone would train him, he would defeat Sasuke and fulfil his promise to Sakura, even if it meant dying in the process… then again he felt as if he was as good as dead right now anyway.

So here he was, rushing along in the forest just outside of Konoha, hoping that he would get a good enough head start on anyone that had a grudge against him while also hoping that the multiple Kage bunshin he had created would make following him difficult.

He knew that his friends would be upset that he left without telling them but if he was honest with himself, he didn't want to see them now that he wasn't allowed to return… he didn't want to have to say goodbye despite the cowardice of running like he was.

His tears fell freely from his eyes as he thought about what he was being forced to leave behind, the other rookies, Gai's team, Kakashi-sensei, Iruka-sensei, Ero-sennin, Shizune-neechan, Baa-chan and even the Ichiraku's.

How it hurt, to have all his precious people torn from him by some self-righteous feudal lord that decided to stick his nose where it didn't belong.

That was when his mind registered something that immediately terrified him.

ANBU.

One of his bunshin had just been attacked by a group of mysterious ANBU that claimed that he was to give in and go with them to Danzō… the same bastard that got him banished in the first place.

He felt his anger boil before blinking in surprise.

How did he know that?

He began to wrack his brain over exactly why he could remember what his bunshin had experienced, only for his eyes to widen in shock at the obvious answer that presented itself to him.

His bunshin's memories were transmitted back to him when they dispersed. That thought made his mind race at the possibilities, if he could remember whatever his bunshin learned then he would be capable of at the very least brainstorming with them for new idea's if not learn new jutsu through them instead of spending time learning them.

He would be capable of training his body to levels that could match bushy-brows, while not sacrificing any jutsu training in the process, using that method he may not simply be capable of keeping pace with Sasuke, he may very well outgrow him.

He was brought back down to earth upon receiving the memories of another bunshin that met an untimely end at the hands of one of those special ANBU, he was certain they weren't regular ANBU otherwise they wouldn't be answering to this Danzō person.

Thinking about what might happen if he was captured, Naruto quickly decided to push himself harder in an attempt to outrun his pursuers, his body reaching levels of speed he didn't have experience maintaining, all the while more of his bunshin were being dispelled by the strange ANBU with each dispel getting closer and closer to his current position.

Seeing a cliff on his right, he was relieved to see a river running down below, hopefully he would be able to cover his tracks by running along the river instead of on dry land and so without hesitation, he jumped.

As he fell he began to regulate the chakra at the soles of his feet, allowing him to land on the river as if it was solid land, crouching low before making his favourite hand seal.

Immediately a single Kage Bunshin was formed and proceeded to run towards the other shore before hitting dry land and leading anyone that decided to pursue it away from his destination, Kawa no Kuni and towards Amegakure.

Running along the river he periodically created more Kage Bunshin in an attempt to confuse his pursuers before creating one more bunshin with more chakra than normal that immediately started to continue running along the river where it would periodically create more Kage Bunshin before running out of chakra and disappearing.

Rushing to the shore he found himself short on breath and after several minutes of running he found himself in an unusual clearing, one that was filled with fallen trees, each one looking like it was both cut and torn, the power of whatever technique created such damage must've been incredible.

He soon took a seat as he tried to regain his breath, hoping that his attempts to lose his tails had worked, at least for now anyway. It took several minutes and lots of intense breathing exercises to finally get his body back under control and immediately he wondered how long he had been gone, it couldn't have been more than two hours and already he was rushing for his life.

Letting out a sigh he proceeded to stand up, sure he wasn't in top condition, especially with his massive chakra expenditure courtesy of the numerous kage bunshin he had created in his attempts to lose the ANBU but he would have to make do until he managed to find somewhere to stay.

Walking through the wreaked forest, he silently jumped from log to log, taking care not to touch the ground in case he end up tripping on something there… that is until he noticed something in his peripheral vision.

Turning his head he noted that it was a splotch of red near one of the fallen trees and it was with curiosity lacing his being that he decided to check it.

The closer he got the easier it got to realise what it was.

It was a girl.

A redheaded girl.

The redheaded girl that had taken Sasuke away from Konoha.

One of Orochimaru's underlings and his enemy.

An enemy that just so happened to be groaning in pain and suffering from laboured breathing, an enemy that was obviously unconscious and incapable of helping themselves.

An enemy that Orochimaru had no use for.

His eyes softened as he remembered what he knew about the snake and how he didn't seem to care one bit about his underlings, simply considering them pawns for him to achieve his goals.

He was also aware that the man rarely tolerated failure.

And this girl was a failure.

She would die here, half buried under a tree and that bastard wouldn't care one bit about her fate, only that she was of no more use to him.

Another thought struck him, she would probably know where Sasuke was.

If he helped her then maybe, she could help him.

Besides, as much as he hated to say it, he was too soft to leave her there anyway.

And so it was with a sigh that the spiky haired youth created more Kage bunshin and went about dealing with the red haired girl.

* * *

Well, I hope you all enjoyed it.

I think I've increased the word count for what has been covered from about 3k words to approximately 8k words, so I hope you enjoy the extra detail etc...

Anyway, that is all for now so without further ado...

Shadow out!


	2. Chapter 2

Hello everyone, I'm back.

For those that don't know, I've decided to see if I can keep up a biweekly update schedule, basically I am going to attempt to update two fics a week, one on Monday between 21:00 and 23:59 GMT and the next on Thursday between 07:00 and 13:50 GMT (dependent on when I wake up).

I currently have 1 chapter for a current story in back up for Tuesday as well as 5 chapters for stories I have yet to post, so I have a little in reserve right now though I would rather put out more for the stories I currently have on the run instead of posting new ones.

Anyway, I am currently in the process of deciding on a Beta Reader but I have yet to decide on one and therefore, this chapter has not been proof read (like the rest of my fics).

I would also like to say that I think this is the first time one of my fics has received flames... some of them made me laugh, I mean seriously, telling me to learn how to write when they're posting anonymously and don't have a fic of their own to their name is just plain stupid.

It is also pretty funny how so many people assume this is a 'Naruto returns to Konoha after being banished' fic, then again I doubt they read the first version otherwise they would know that the main emphasis of this fic is actually what Naruto gets up to after getting banished.

Well, I guess that's all for now, so let's get this show on the road.

* * *

Naruto couldn't stop himself from letting out a sigh as he received the knowledge from his bunshin, apparently his plan for delaying his pursuers was working for the most part, though for how long he wasn't certain, only that he hoped it would be long enough for him to deal with his self imposed problem.

The redhead that used a flute as a weapon. He didn't know why he couldn't just leave the girl to die but in the end he just couldn't bring himself to do it.

Sure he knew that she would probably try and kill him when she woke up but looking at her legs, he was pretty sure the girl wouldn't be much of a threat to him… or anyone really.

He was no medic but even he could tell that her legs would probably need some form of surgery in order for the girl to ever walk again, exactly how serious the surgery would be he had no clue but that didn't stop him from giving his novice opinion.

Of course the bunshin he had created to remove the trunk that had been crushing the girls legs were still around, however he was now presented with a slight problem, namely that he didn't know how to transport the injured Oto nin.

Sure he could use bunshin but that created another problem, it would be obvious to his pursuers when they arrived which way he was going and he didn't know how far it would be till the border or even if his enemies would give up once he crossed it.

His throat began to grow dry at the prospect of never getting a chance to get any peace, of always having to keep one eye open while sleeping in case he was found by these unknown ANBU.

And beyond that, how would he evade them for the rest of his life?

His thoughts were interrupted by a groan, making him turn to the redheaded konoichi as she started shifting uncomfortably before letting out a sharp exhale upon moving her leg a little.

"Hey, you alright?" he asked the girl as she continued to fight her battle to regain consciousness, causing her eyes to open wide.

"Fuck!" came her immediate yell shocking the blond into a stumble before he got his act together and placed his hand over the redheads mouth.

"Dammit, not so loud," he demanded through clenched teeth, hopefully none of those strange ANBU had heard her wake up shout and he would still have a little time before having to deal with any more of those freaks, "we're not in a position for yelling alright?"

Upon hearing his statement, her eyes began to narrow as she noted his forehead before scanning the rest of what she could see of his body before giving a weak nod, prompting him to remove his hand.

"First… things first… turn me over," she demanded, making him blink before doing as she requested, only to flinch as she proceeded to vomit on the ground, or more specifically, cough up bile. Her action carried on for several minutes before she finally got over her little outburst and looked at him with weak eyes and drool flowing from her mouth, "do you have anything to eat?"

Naruto couldn't stop himself from closing his eyes and letting out a sigh before removing his backpack and pulling out a couple of ration bars, "here, you can have these… if you wear my backpack."

The redhead blinked in surprise upon hearing the blonds demand, she didn't know why he wanted her to wear his backpack but if it got her something to eat then she wouldn't deny it.

"Deal," and with that, she was handed the pair of ration bars before the blond put his backpack on over her arms, therefore placing it on her back instead of his own.

Then he put her arms around his neck and proceeded to lift her piggyback style.

"Eh?! What the fuck do you think you're doing!" she yelled at him, earning a cringe off the boy as he decided to give her the basic summary of his situation.

"I'm carrying you," he stated seriously, "I'm not in the best situation right now, what with the daimyo banishing me from Hi No Kuni and those weird ANBU guy's trying to capture me for that Danzō prick…"

"Banished? Danzō?" the redhead said with her eyes widening at the implications, "oh… you really are in a fucked up situation aren't ya?"

Naruto couldn't bring himself to deny her statement, he knew he was in a terrible situation but he was certain that if they found her, she would be in just as bad a situation if not worse than the one he was currently in.

"I know…" he gritted out, earning a tch from the teenage girl currently on his back.

"Yeah, you'd better get as far away from here as possible if you want to live," she stated surprisingly calmly given her circumstances, "hopefully we can get far enough ahead that they will lose your trail."

"Yeah, that's what I was hoping," he said as he decided to dash off. The problem before had been the fact that he would've had to slow down a reasonable bit if he had to wait for a bunshin to carry her awkwardly, however now that she was awake, he could easily carry her like this because she would be holding onto him even if her strength was clearly not up to scratch, however she was eating the bars he gave her over his shoulder so she should begin to regain a little strength after the couple of days of starvation and dehydration… he felt like slapping his head at that but instead decided to simply reach for his hipflask and pass it up to her when he noticed she had finished the first ration bar, resulting in her quickly accepting the canister and taking several shallow gulps of the liquid, obviously not wanting to drink too much at once in case it made her sick.

The redhead however had different thoughts going through her head, namely the question of why the blond was helping her, did he want something from her or was he just soft hearted? Honestly she didn't really care, if he wanted information on Orochimaru then she'd happily give what she knew, that snake bastard did treat her as expendable after all so why should she show any loyalty to him? And if he wanted something else… well she'd cross that bridge if she ever came to it.

Besides, she was pretty sure that the boy that was currently carrying he was just a well intentioned idiot and at the very least, she would probably be capable of exploiting him for her own benefit at least for a while.

"So… my name's Uzumaki Naruto, what's yours?" he eventually decided to ask her, earning a raised eyebrow off the redhead as she finished off the second ration bar and washed it down with some water.

"Tch… you know it's pretty stupid to give your name out to a potential enemy like that right?" she asked him wondering just how stupid the blond actually was.

"Huh? But if I don't then how will they know who kicked their ass?" and with that statement the redhead would've slapped her face if she had the energy but she didn't, so she settled with just letting out a sigh of disbelief before saying one very simple thing to the blond.

"You're an idiot, you know that?"

"Huh? What do you mean by that?!" the spiky haired youth asked with a scowl, earning a snort off the crippled girl.

"Nothing," she said quickly as she realised that trying to break his 'softness' may not be the best idea when he could decide to leave her to fend for herself… something that would be near impossible with her legs in the state they were currently in.

"Hey! Don't try to avoid the question!" he said with exaggerated anger, the fact was that despite his apparent disdain at being called an idiot, he was so used to it that it didn't really mean much to him anymore… he had just reacted to it for so long that it had become a habit to react defensively.

"I'll tell you later when we aren't at risk of giving our fucking position away because of you shouting like a retard," she hissed at him, using an excuse that hopefully wouldn't make him leave her to her own devices.

Naruto for his part simply grit his teeth in annoyance upon hearing the redheads excuse, he knew she was just trying to change the subject but in the end, he couldn't bring himself to argue anymore, not when she was technically correct about the situation.

And so he kept running, hoping that his bunshin had managed to secure him a large enough lead that the unknown ANBU wouldn't be capable of catching up with him.

"So… I gave you my name, what's yours?" he decided to ask in an attempt to ease his nerves about the current situation, earning a small grumble from the girl as she decided whether or not it was worth giving him the information he asked for.

"Tayuya," she finally told him with obvious reluctance at the fact, earning a raised eyebrow from the blond.

"Don't you have a family name?" the blond asked, wondering if she was just hiding as much about herself as possible, that is until he noticed her gritting her teeth.

"Shut the fuck up," the anger in her tone at his question caught him off guard but he kept listening to what she said after that, "when some freaky Shotacon kidnaps you before you can even walk, starts experimenting on you to see about new types of jutsu and then brands you with a seal that he can use to kill you at any moment, you're lucky to have a name at all!"

Naruto found himself flinching at her statement, immediately understanding why such a thing would piss her off so much, he didn't know how he would've turned out if he had been placed under identical circumstances… even if he didn't have a family, at least he wasn't experimented on, abused or really mistreated in any way… sure most people in Konoha looked down on him for hosting the Kyūbi but at least it was only cold stares and the odd rumour that he had to deal with.

"Sorry… I didn't realise," he muttered softly, earning a snort off the redhead.

"Yeah, some little shit like you who's spent their whole life safe within a proper villages walls wouldn't have a clue what us at Oto had to put up with," he could definitely pick up hostility in her tone but he couldn't bring himself to have a go at her for that.

There was a silence between the two that stretched on for several minutes, neither either prepared to talk, or not wanting to talk but eventually, Naruto decided to ask something that he wondered after hearing the redhead talk about her experience in Oto.

"It sounds like you hate Oto and Orochimaru," and with that he heard her grit her teeth once more.

"Of course I do, if it wasn't for them then how would my life have turned out? Would I have a loving family? Would I be a ninja for a village whose leader considered me nothing more than a shōgi piece to discard on a whim?" she started asking a series of questions that explained to him, exactly how wrong Orochimaru and his village was when it came down to treating his ninja, "and then, if he ever realises that I'm still alive…"

Naruto noticed that she had decided to trail off and given what he had heard of her so far there was only one conclusion he could come to.

He would kill her.

Tayuya for her part was simply realising just how serious a situation she was really in, even if the blond did decide to spare her (something she was growing more and more certain of as time passed), she would still have to find a way to evade the snake sannin for the rest of her life.

Then again, Naruto was also in a similar situation from what he told her and she was well aware of the fact he was a jinchūriki courtesy of Orochimaru's briefings, so while he may be an idiot, he did have a bit of power at the very least…

"Hey, you're planning on taking me to a hospital right?" she asked him earning a nod of affirmation off the orange clad blond, "what are you planning on doing after that?"

Naruto found himself pausing his thoughts for a couple of seconds before responding as calmly as possible, "I was going to head over to Nami No Kuni and see about hiding there."

"Stupid move," immediately the blond found himself looking over his shoulder to see her tired face, "I know from what my briefings on you said that you are considered the 'Nami No Eiyū' so it's likely that that'll be one of the first places they look for you if they lose your trail."

Naruto inwardly cringed at that, when she put it that way then going to the island nation didn't seem like a good idea, especially given the obvious fact that these ANBU that were hunting him weren't concerned about laws or the relations between the countries.

"If you want my advice… then going to Tsuchi no Kuni would probably be the best option for laying low… as long as you manage to avoid any Iwa patrols that is," she stated seriously, making him blink in surprise at her suggestion.

"That sounds like a pretty stupid thing to do," he deadpanned, only to earn a smirk off the crippled redhead.

"And that's exactly why it would work," she told him seriously, "the fact is that right now, those so called ANBU that are chasing you think you're on your own and well… you're not exactly known for being smart but at the same time, you're obviously going to go somewhere to hide from them, probably somewhere you feel safe… so going to a place as hostile as Tsuchi No Kuni isn't the sort of thing they'd be expecting you to do right?"

Naruto had to admit, he was a little scared at how she seemed to know as much about him as she did, then again she did mention of Orochimaru had briefed her on him so it was to be expected, however there was one thing he needed to know if she knew.

"You said Orochimaru briefed you on me… then do you know…" he found himself trailing off, earning a raised eyebrow off the redhead before she let out a small chuckle.

"You mean the fact that you're a jinchūriki?" she asked him without any hint of hesitation, earning a nod of confirmation from the spiky haired youth.

"Yeah… so what does that mean to you?" he asked her with a rather unhappy tone.

"It means you probably aren't a complete waste of space," she told him simply, making him perk his head up slightly, "the fact you have that sort of power contained within you actually means that you're probably capable of holding your own if something goes wrong… so it means it would probably be a good idea for me to stick with you."

Naruto nearly stumbled upon hearing her declaration, he had not expected that response, he was more used to people threatening him or treating him like a monster and yet here this stranger was talking about sticking with him because of it.

"And what would I get out of that partnership huh?" he asked her, wondering if it would just be a one way gain on her part or not, he knew from experience that she specialised in sound based genjutsu used in conjunction with her flute… which just so happened to have been crushed back in the clearing and therefore unusable.

"Isn't it obvious?" she asked with a weak smirk, "you've got the brawn… I've got the brains."

Naruto found himself slightly miffed at her statement but in the end, she did have a point. No matter how good he was at on the fly tactics, he simply sucked at forward planning and making decisions based on logic and knowledge of the situation.

"So you're saying we should work together when you get better?" he asked her as calmly as he could, earning a nod off the redhead who absently noted that he said 'when' and not 'if'… it seemed that he was either far too optimistic or simply too stupid to realise that it was possible a doctor wouldn't be capable of fixing her legs.

"Yeah… it seems like the best choice we have right now," she told him calmly before letting out a small yawn, "well, I'm tired so try to keep the ride smooth and quiet so I can get some sleep, shrimp."

Naruto felt his eye twitch at her jab at his height, sure he may be the shortest boy his age but it wasn't by that much.

He didn't protest however, namely because he could feel the redheads breathing even out and her grip relax as she allowed herself to drift off to sleep… he didn't know just how hard the past couple of days had been for her but he was sure that she probably didn't get any decent sleep back when she was stuck under that tree.

And so he let her sleep, hopefully getting her on his side would make the next few years easier for him… that is if both of them lasted that long.

XXX XXX XXX

Hours passed as Naruto failed to receive anymore memories from his bunshin… honestly that fact worried him, why wasn't he receiving them? There were only two possibilities he could think of, the less likely one was that they had simply lost his trail and he was home free… the second option was that they had managed to predict which route he was taking and chasing after him instead of his bunshin.

And so he sped up.

While before he was going at a reasonable pace, he was now darting forward like his life depended on it, then again, he was pretty sure his life did depend on it.

And then he was forced to stop as a masked figure dropped down in front of him, jerking his passenger awake in the process.

"Ah, fuck, what the fuck was… that…" Tayuya didn't finish her question as her eyes caught sight of the masking shinobi in front of them, "oh fuck."

"Uzumaki Naruto, stand down and come with me quietly or I will use force," the masked ninja stated in a dull monotone, "and bring Orochimaru's pawn with you."

Naruto immediately knew that this wasn't the sort of situation he could deal with, yeah, he liked to think that he was a hotshot but the fact was that he wasn't up against Kakashi-sensei who would pull his punches, he wasn't up against Zabuza where all he had to do was free his sensei… he wasn't up against Kabuto who was toying with him and not taking him seriously… right now he was up against an ANBU that wasn't going to make rookie mistakes like that.

And the worst part was that he knew that facing an enemy with much greater skill wasn't something even the Kyūbi's chakra could help him with, he had learned that against that Kimimaro guy Orochimaru had sent to retrieve Sasuke.

"Dammit…" was all that escaped his lips as the ANBU moved forward with the intent of taking the whiskered blond back to his master.

And then it happened.

A torrent of sand crashed through the forest forcing the older ninja to jump out of the way, only for a powerful gust of wind to knock him off course and straight into a large puppet that was lying in wait with its main body open before snapping shut once the ninja was contained within, before a series of bladed limbs stabbed into the carapace, causing a ripping sound and scream of pain to come from within.

"Uzumaki Naruto," came a drawl monotone as Naruto watched wide eyed as a familiar redhead and his siblings emerged from the tree line.

"Gaara?! What are you doing here?" he asked in shock, he hadn't expected to meet the Suna siblings here, let alone just when he needed help the most.

"Forget that!" Temari shouted with her fan fully opened and a glare on her face, "what are you doing with her!"

"What was that Suna-ama!" and then Naruto understood exactly why the other blond was acting so aggressive.

"W-wait! Let's just talk about this before jumping to conclusions okay?" he said, hoping to avoid the confrontation between the two females in the meeting.

"Uh, Temari, do you know that chick?" Kankurō asked with a confused expression, earning a snarl off his sister.

"Yeah, she was one of the Oto nin kidnapping the Uchiha," she informed him, making both her siblings eyes widen, though Gaara's reaction was less noticeable.

"And you're the bitch that dropped a fucking tree on me!" the redhead shouted back angrily, making the whiskered blond seethe at being completely ignored.

"WILL YOU ALL SHUT THE HELL UP!" he finally shouted, no longer concerned about being found by the unknown ANBU, after all, he had three skilled Suna nin there in the clearing with him and he was pretty sure that Gaara at the very least would be capable of slaughtering any of those freaks if they tried to capture him again.

"Well that was real smart jackass, now those ANBU will know where we are!" Tayuya shouted angrily in the orange clad blonds ear.

"So what?! I have faith that Gaara can kill any of those freaks if they come here and you and Temari looked like you were about to try and kill each other!" the blond jinchūriki stated angrily.

"And then those that don't engage will report that you're not alone and then predicting those bastards next moves will become a shitload harder!" the former Oto nin shouted in frustration.

"Will both of you calm down already?" Kankurō said with an amused smile gracing his lips at being the voice of reason for a change, "now, Naruto, you said earlier that we should talk about this, so what's the deal with her?"

Naruto knew that he would have to explain what happened to the group and so he decided to ask them a simple question first.

"Uh… first, can we stop for a rest? I'm kinda tired after all that running," he asked while scratching the back of his head nervously.

"Yeah, that seems reasonable, we were planning on taking a break soon anyway," the black clad puppet user said before the group found a suitable area to stop.

XXX XXX XXX

Kankurō let out a sigh as he thought on what the former Konoha nin had told them.

Honestly for the most part he had been right in what he had done, sure he shouldn't have decided to save the enemy but that seemed to have worked out to his advantage if it wasn't for one simple fact.

"You know, she isn't really that useful to you," he decided to simply state the fact bluntly, shocking both of the non Suna ninja… then again, they didn't know what the siblings did.

"The hell do you mean by that you fucking cross dresser!" Tayuya shouted angrily, earning a shrug off the puppeteer.

"The fact is that given the situation, you aren't that useful," he said clearly, "after all, the whole reason we're here right now is because Hokage-sama asked us to take Naruto with us to Suna."

Naruto found his heart skipping a beat as Tayuya found the blood drain from her face… if the whiskered blond was going to join Suna then she would either be killed by the leader of the village or left for dead.

"And when we enter Suna, she'll be dealt with like any other Oto nin we might find," Temari stated calmly, making the redhead flinch as she realised that she was going to either die, or get tortured for information… neither possibility was particularly appealing to her.

"Gaara… Temari… Kankurō… thank you but I can't accept the offer," Naruto said while facing the ground, shocking the others in the clearing with his decision.

"Wait? What do you mean you can't accept the offer?" Temari asked him in obvious shock at his response, earning a melancholy look off the blond.

"Because if I swore my allegiance to another village, I know I would feel like a traitor," he said as calmly as he could, causing a spark of hope to ignite within the redheaded genjutsu mistress and a sigh off the puppet user.

"Damn… that complicates matters," the oldest boy in the group said with a grimace, "Tsunade-sama did make it clear that she wanted us to help you but you don't want to join our village…"

"If you want to help him," Tayuya started with an almost predatory smirk on her lips that put the others on edge, "then why not give him some basic instructions to give him a bit of variety? I mean right now he's practically a one trick pony right?"

With the redheads question, the two older members of the Suna trio gave each other a glance before giving determined nods when they made their decision.

"Technically, we're not supposed to share village secrets with outsiders," the puppeteer stated seriously, making the younger blond gulp nervously.

"But given the fact that you gave us our little brother back… I think we can make an exception," the oldest female in the group said with a soft smile directed towards the whiskered youth.

Naruto for his part didn't know what to say, he couldn't believe what he was hearing but the fact remained that the people that were once his enemies were now talking about breaking their villages rules to help him.

"T-thank you," he said upon finally processing the seriousness of what they were planning on doing.

Temari simply gave him a smile before reaching into her backpack and pulling out a scroll of some kind before opening it with a flourish and laying it on the ground to reveal a large map of the elemental nations.

"Alright, if you're not coming with us to Suna then we've got to reroute our course," she stated seriously, earning a look of surprise off the blond, "after all, we need to get that bitch to a doctor at the very least… preferably a hospital."

"What the fuck was that Suna-ama?!" the feisty redhead asked aggressively as she ate from a can of beans, earning an amused smirk off the wind user.

"You heard me Oto-ama," she responded calmly as the redheaded genjutsu mistress grit her teeth in anger.

"Tayuya… Temari… stop trying to piss each other off," Naruto said with obvious boredom at their constant squabbling, earning a death glare off the redhead.

"Yeah, well, the closest town with a hospital that I can think of outside of Hi No Kuni's border is in Kawa no Kuni and just a couple of miles away from where Tanigakure is supposed to be," the older blond said calmly, earning a nod of acceptance from the Kyūbi jinchūriki.

"So that's where we're going right?" he asked her, earning a firm nod of confirmation from the Suna Konoichi.

"Yeah… but first we have to wait for Oto-ama to finish stuffing her face," she responded mockingly, earning a harsh glare off the female redhead.

"Fuck you, I was trapped under a fucking tree for two fucking days without food or water! I don't need you acting all bitchy when you're the one who trapped me like that in the first place," the former Oto ninja said angrily, earning a smirk of satisfaction off the older blond.

"Will both of you please stop it?" Naruto asked in exasperation, he was honestly hoping that the duo would leave each other alone or he was certain he would develop a headache listening to them bicker constantly.

"You think that's bad, try spending a day as her little brother," Kankurō joked, earning a glare off his elder sibling, causing him to put his hands up in a placating manner, "see, this is a daily occurrence for me."

"Shut up Kankurō," the blond Suna nin demanded with murder in her eyes.

"See what I mean?" and with that he found a can of beans thrown at his head by an irate older sister, earning a small smile off the former Konoha ninja, making the others look at him strangely.

"You know, I always wondered what it would be like to have a family," he said with a soft smile, earning realisation from three of the others in the clearing.

"Don't you dare start on the melodramatic bullshit," Tayuya immediately broke in, making the three Suna nin look at her with narrowed eyes, "just because you haven't had a family means you should waste time wondering about what it would be like to have one… all that'll do is make you hurt more."

She said the first parts loudly, obnoxiously even but the last part, the last part was said with such a low volume that the blond barely picked up on it, he did but only barely… and that was all he needed to figure out exactly what she was saying, 'don't make me ask those what ifs to myself again'.

"Alright, I'll try to hold off on the melodrama," he said with a smile as he gave the redhead a grin that he had plastered on his face so many times before.

Tayuya simply scoffed as she finished off her beans and water, honestly she was feeling so much better after the ration bars and drink earlier, especially when she managed to get a bit of reasonable sleep without her legs being crushed under a tree… she was certain she'd feel even better after a little more sleep now that she'd had a couple of cans of provisions to eat… even if they were cold and nothing particularly special.

"Alright then, I'm finished, let's get going cocksucker," the volatile redhead said while looking at the whiskered blond who started spluttering at her in shock at her new nickname for him.

"I'm not a cocksucker you stupid bitch!" he shouted angrily, earning a victorious smirk off the teen he was having to carry.

"Whatever cocksucker," and with that she simply turned away from him before putting his backpack back on her back while he silently fumed at her.

"Hey, Kankurō," the spiky haired blond said, catching the attention of oldest male in the clearing, "is it too late to change my mind about leaving her?"

"Oi! Don't you fucking dare!" the former Oto ninja shouted angrily at the blonds question, earning a blank stare off him.

"And why shouldn't I when you thank me by calling me a cocksucker?" he asked her, earning a blank stare off the oldest redhead in the clearing.

Silence reigned for a couple of seconds before she finally answered his question.

"It's nothing personal."

Naruto couldn't believe what he was hearing, she said it was nothing personal to insult him like that despite everything he was doing for her when she was his enemy before… honestly she almost reminded him of…

Oh… his eyes widened at that realisation and his previous anger towards her vanished as he finally understood why she was so disrespectful.

It was simply that she was like him in that regard, she simply assigned offensive nicknames to people regardless of what she thought of them, certainly they were more offensive than the ones he usually used when referring to his elders but that was about it.

"Alright then," the Suna trio blinked at his quick dismissal of her insult before he proceeded to once again wrap her arms around his neck and lift her piggyback style despite her apparent shock at his quick dismissal of her disrespect.

"You seemed to get over that pretty quick," Kankurō said upon seeing the blond pick up the redheaded girl again and prepare himself for the rest of the long journey.

"I guess it's just nothing I should get worked up over right?" and with that the blond started dashing off in the direction they were due to go anyway.

"Well, guess we'd better get going too right?" the puppeteer asked, earning a pair of nods off his siblings before the trio proceeded to once again start chasing after the blond.

* * *

Yes, I know this chapter is shorter the first one (nearly 3k words shorter) but that seemed like the best place to stop it.

Anyway, I suppose the simplest explanation is that I want my chapters for most of my fics to exist in the 5k - 10k range dependent on when it feels right to stop them.

And that is all for now so until next time...

The Distorted Shadow out!


End file.
